Academic group challenges US College’s firing of Jewish professor over anti-Zionist remarks

An academic group is urging Muhlenberg College to clarify its decision to fire Maura Finkelstein, a tenured Jewish professor, for “bias-related conduct” following her Instagram post calling out Zionists.

“Do not cower to Zionists”, the post read, according to Finkelstein. “Shame them. Do not welcome them in your spaces. Do not make them feel comfortable. Why should those genocide-loving fascists be treated any different than any other flat-out racist. Don’t normalise Zionism. Don’t normalise Zionists taking up space.”

The Association of American University Professors (AAUP) has taken up Finkelstein’s case, sending a letter to the Pennsylvania liberal arts college this week demanding an explanation. This came after months of controversy tied to her anti-Zionist activism, prompting complaints from Jewish students and faculty and sparking a federal Title VI investigation. Despite the growing attention, the college has yet to issue a public statement regarding her termination.

“The dismissal raises serious concerns about academic freedom at Muhlenberg,” the AAUP said in the letter. The organisation further accused the College of not following due process in firing a tenured professor.

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In May, an internal investigation at Muhlenberg College recommended that Professor Maura Finkelstein be dismissed “for just cause”, according to the AAUP’s letter. The College notified her that her employment would terminate on 31 May, and a recent appeal of her dismissal was rejected.

“If I can be fired for criticising a foreign government, calling attention to a genocide and using my academic expertise as an anthropologist to draw attention to how power operates, then no one is safe,” Finkelstein told the news site, Inside Higher Ed, in an emailed statement on Friday.

“I wasn’t fired for anything I said in the classroom. I was fired because of a charge brought by a student I had never met, let alone taught, who had been surveying my social media account for months.”

She added, “This isn’t about student safety, this is about silencing dissent. We are witnessing a new McCarthyism and we should all be terrified of its implications.”

Finkelstein became the focus of public controversy in October, shortly after the start of Israel’s war against Gaza. A group of pro-Israel Muhlenberg alumni launched an online petition calling for her removal due to her social media posts following Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel. The posts, which drew criticism, included comments like “Students raising money for genocide” in reference to student fund-raising efforts for Israel. The petition has since gathered over 8,000 signatures.

Finkelstein was suspended from Muhlenberg College in January, around the same time the US Department of Education launched a Title VI investigation into the College. The ongoing investigation stemmed from a letter that referenced a Change.org petition calling for Finkelstein’s firing. The petition, initiated by pro-Israel alumni, accused her of harassing pro-Israel students and alums online.

The decision to terminate Finkelstein was based on her social media activity, particularly a post encouraging the “shaming of Zionists” and rejecting the normalisation of their views. In May, a Muhlenberg panel found her behaviour violated the school’s code of conduct and recommended her dismissal. The case has drawn attention from the AAUP, which expressed concerns over her firing and highlighted the evolving debate around academic boycotts of Israel.

Anita Levy, the group’s senior program director, wrote in the Tuesday letter to Muhlenberg President, Kathleen Herring: “In addition to extramural speech, Professor Finkelstein’s case presents additional issues of potential interest to our members and to the academic community at large.”

She added that AAUP would be convening its own group to investigate Finkelstein’s case in more detail, stating: “These include whether expressions of opposition to Zionism or the government of Israel can be tantamount to anti-Semitism, discrimination and harassment of students; how compliance with equal opportunity requirements on a campus intersects with institutional policies governing academic freedom, due process and faculty governance; and the extent to which controversy stemming from the war in Gaza can affect campus conditions for academic freedom and due process.”

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